We Will Never Part
by CandEForever
Summary: Book Two of The Clone Chronicles. The clones are at risk from a strange blood disease as Maura starts to break under the stress. Meanwhile, someone thought long dead is about to change everyone's lives.
1. Chapter 1

We Will Never Part

The characters do not belong to us. Our title is part of a line from the song "Swimming Pool" by Camera Obscura, one of E's favorite bands that will later appear in parts of the story, hope you enjoy! xx

Chapter 1

Sasha was so glad to finally be home that she could hardly believe it. She wasn't in the underground, held hostage in the rogue agent experiment center or in the hospital. She was actually planning her ideal wedding with the man of her dreams, Barry Frost. It seemed as if life couldn't get any better, until it started to change.

The burning started one rainy night when she'd agreed to watch Maura's daughter, Kaylee. Maura had a difficult case and needed to stay later than usual at the morgue. Maura had only recently gone back to work and hated the late nights away from Kaylee. Overcome by pain in her chest, Sasha gripped the edge of the counter, taking deep breaths. It was as though her insides were literally burning. With a trembling hand, she reached for the phone. Kaylee let out a squeal, banging her toy against the high chair tray.

"Aunt Sasha isn't feeling well, baby girl. Hopefully your mommy can figure out what's wrong." She sank into the chair next to the high chair as the phone started to ring.

It was on the second ring that Maura picked it up. She heard her sister on the other end sounding frantic, yet trying to control it, as not to panic the baby. Maura had long ago stopped thinking of Sasha as her clone, but as her sister instead. It felt so much more natural.

"What's wrong?" Maura asked, fear rising in her body.

"I don't know," Sasha said. "It feels like everything inside me is on fire and I can't stop it, no matter what." She was nearly to crying. "Please tell me you know what this is and how you can fix it. "

"I'm coming home," Maura said. Sasha made no move to object. "Hang in there, Sash. We'll figure this out." Sasha could hear the fear in her sister's voice.

"Okay," Sasha whispered. "Please hurry. It hurts so badly."

It took Maura only a few minutes to arrive home to find her sister sitting on the kitchen floor, silently crying. "I'm here now," Maura said gently, trying to soothe both their fears.

"It won't stop and it's getting hard to breathe," Sasha said between gasps. "What's going on?"

Maura shook her head. "I don't know but, I am going to find out."

"Please," Sasha whispered.

"I think I ought to call my mother." Maura pulled out her cell phone.

From her chair, Kaylee let out an impatient whine. Maura left Hope a message, telling her to call back immediately. She lifted Kaylee into her arms, kissing her forehead. She helped Sasha to her feet and over to the couch. "Is this the first time you've experienced pain?"

Sasha nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "Pain like this, anyway. I'm sorry. I'm an awful babysitter."

"It's ok, you are not an awful babysitter," Maura told her sister with a reassuring hug. "It's most important that we find out what's going on with you."

The door opened then, followed by Jane's voice. "Maura!" She ran into the living room. "Chang said you left because of an emergency."

Maura's phone rang before she could answer. "Take the baby. I have to get this." She passed her daughter to Jane and walked into the kitchen. "Mom..."

"There's something wrong with Sasha," she explained. "Can you please come over as soon as possible?"

"Yes, of course I will," Hope replied with a lump in her throat at the thought of whatever could be wrong. She had grown very close to the woman whom she thought of as her third daughter over the past year. Thinking of Sasha in danger yet again was terrifying.

Hope raced into the kitchen minutes later and immediately knelt beside Sasha on the floor. "Maura, tell me what's going on."

Maura began to talk in her doctor voice as she described Sasha's symptoms. Hope looked more nervous by the minute. "Ok, I think I know what is wrong."

"What is it?" Sasha whispered, holding tightly to Maura's hand. "Please make it stop."

"It's from the experiment," Hope explained, "A lot of the clones in the underground got it."

Maura stiffened at Hope's grave expression. "The only option is Maura's blood. It has to be an exact match. Maura has a unique ability to recover lost blood."

"Wait," Jane cut in from the floor, where she sat with Kaylee. "You're saying that Maura's blood will stop Sasha's pain? Is that safe?"

"Yes, it is safe as long as we follow precautions. We can't take too much blood from Maura or she will be too exhausted to function, sleeping for days at a time. Or giving too much blood at a time can literally poison Sasha," Hope explained. "Now, we need to proceed." She produced a needle from her medical bag so large that Jane's eyes grew large and frightened.

"You're using... that?" Jane inquired, looking as sick as Frost did at grisly crime scenes. She had to turn her head away as Hope nodded. "Oh, my."

"This is crazy. I can't let you do this, Maur." Sasha's voice was weak. "Isn't there another way?"

"No. I'd do anything for you. You know that." Maura gave Sasha's hand a squeeze. "Jane, take Kaylee and go into the nursery. We'll be okay," she said when Jane hesitated. She waited until Jane was out of the room before holding out her arm. "Okay. Do it."

Hope tied a tourniquet around Maura's arm, rubbed it with alcohol and found a vein from which to take the blood. Maura didn't flinch as she was so focused on helping her sister.

Next, Hope did the same thing to Sasha's arm and waited anxiously for the symptoms to abate, which finally happened after a few moments.

"It worked," Maura sighed.

Hope nodded. "It did. But we will have to put PICC lines in each of you to avoid being stuck with needles each time you do this. I'll get you set up with an appointment for the procedure tomorrow. I'm staying the night in case anything happens."

"Thank God!" Maura hugged Sasha and could feel her shaking. "It'll be okay."

Sasha shook her head. "No. It's not fair. This can't be the only way. What if something happens. What if-"

"Hey, shhh. It'll be okay. Mom and I are both doctors. We'll figure this out. I won't have you in pain." She pulled Sasha into her arms again.

She was not comforted by these words, though. It wasn't long before she started to shake so violently that Maura feared she was having a reaction to the blood. But it was just sheer terror.

"It will be okay," Maura's voice did little to soothe Sasha. She looked up into her mother's eyes and mouthed the word 'help'.

Before saying a word, Hope once again knelt down on the floor with her daughters.

"Sasha, you have to calm down or you can do yourself more harm than the blood disorder is doing."

The younger woman didn't respond, only trembled further and cried so hard that she could barely catch her breath. Hope shook her head sadly before pulling a smaller syringe from her bag and injecting her younger daughter with its contents. "I'm sorry to have to do this, but you must calm down." In a moment, Sasha grew limp in Maura's arms.

Maura sighed. "A sedative was necessary," she said matter-of-factly. "Now let's get Jane to help carry her to bed."

Jane came at once and they brought Sasha to the guest room. It was the same one where Jane had stayed on numerous nights, the bedroom with gray walls and light lavender bedding.

They laid Sasha on the bed and then left Hope to change her into something more comfortable for sleeping. Maura offered one of her nightgowns and gazed with admiration at the shoes Hope removed from her sister's feet. Black strappy heels just like she wore herself.

"Nice taste," Maura said. "Good night, Sasha," she murmured as she closed the door. She and Jane went back into the living room and sat down on the green sofa. The hours passed with worry heavy in the air. Maura knew that their mother would be immense help to Sasha, but she worried because the situation had come out of the blue, so intense when she had first arrived home.

Hope sat at her daughter's bedside and kept vigil with growing anxiety. She knew that Sasha had bern lucky to recover fully from the gunshot wounds sustained in the experiment house police raid. But this development was not a good sign at all. The clones who had contracted and survived the blood disease had not been in trauma or suffered severe blood loss, as she had. While there was yet much to be revealed about the condition, Hope knew it would be an unprecedented case with her younger daughter.

She gazed at Sasha in amazement of how much she looked like Maura as she slept. They were identical in looks, but their personality differences shone through like morning rays of sun. Maura was introspective and careful, while Sasha was extroverted and fun loving, ready for new things on the spur of the moment. But without expression on her face, except that of apparently peaceful slumber provided by the sedative, they were literally impossible to tell apart. Hope grew sleepy, gently easing her body down into the queen size bed beside her daughter. Hope wanted to be close in case she needed anything in the night.

Maura paced the quiet living room. Jane was asleep on the foldout couch in Maura's study, insisting on staying the night. They'd contacted Angie, Anna and Jamie, but they had yet to reply. It was nearly midnight and Maura did not feel tired. She was even relieved when Kaylee had awakened an hour ago for a bottle.

"Maura?" Jane's voice, though a whisper, was loud in the silence. "You okay?"

"I don't know if I'm okay or not, Jane," Maura answered. "I'm so... I don't know how I am. My poor sister. She just got her life back, and now..."

"I know," she sympathized. "You can tell me about it, even when you can't talk to anyone else. You know that, don't you?"

Maura nodded as the tears began to spill down her face. "I do. You're the best friend I could ever ask for!"

Maura wiped her eyes as they sat on the couch. "She's so scared. She won't like having to depend on me. She-" Sasha's footsteps stopped her. Before she could process what was happening, Maura was at her sister's side, leading her to the couch.

"Hurts," Sasha whispered. Maura was never more grateful for Jane's presence as right now.

"Does it burn again?" Maura asked her sister. "Or is it something else?"

"Burns," Sasha whispered. She looked at Maura. "I can't do this. It's not fair. You shouldn't have to put your life on hold because of me."

Maura took Sasha's hands in her own. "You are my sister. My other half. I'm not going to sit back while you're in pain. Let me help." She looked at Jane. "Grab Hope's bag."

Jane did as she was told. In the blink of an eye, Sasha's pain was once again alleviated by Maura's blood. Sasha wasn't sure how to feel because she didn't want to be dependent upon anyone. The entire thing was confusing, at best.

Hope heard her daughters talking and got up to join them. She was clearly dismayed to learn that Sasha had recurring pain so soon, but she tried to keep a cool head and formulate a plan.

"Honey, I hate to tell you this, but I think I'd better admit you to the hospital tomorrow and run some tests. I've seen this before, but I'm afraid your case might be a bit different because of the experiments."

To her surprise, Sasha agreed in an acquiescent manner.

"Let's get everyone back to bed, ok?" Hope wasn't merely suggesting, and her daughters immediately went back to their bedrooms. As Jane walked back to the sofa, Hope stopped her with a soft hand in her forearm.

"Thank you for being here for both my girls."

"You're welcome. I wouldn't leave them for the world. I'm here, and I will continue to be here. I'm here for good, and you can count on that. I'm in it for the long haul. For both Maura and Sasha, because I know how much she means to Maura. I promise with all of my heart."

Jane's phone rang at seven-forty five the next morning. She groaned, rolling over to find Maura gone. They'd fallen asleep while talking. Jane could hear Kaylee cooing from her crib. "Hey there, cutie pie." She went to the crib and lifted Kaylee into her arms. "Let's go find Mommy. And you need a diaper change." She headed down the hall to find the guest room door closed, meaning Sasha was still sleeping. Low voices came from the kitchen. Hope and Maura. "I think I better feed you, sweet girl. It'll be lunch before your mommy has the coffee made."

"Hey little girl!" Maura lifted her baby into her arms and grinned. "Are you hungry? I'll bet you are..."

"I'll make the coffee," Jane volunteered. "I might not do it as skillfully as our resident expert here, but at least it will be coffee..."

"Jane!" Maura scolded, kissing Kaylee's cheek and putting her in the highchair. "Angie called. She and Anna have both been out of cell range. They are flying in this afternoon. I didn't tell them what's going on. Didn't want to worry them." She opened a jar of baby food.

"Maur?" Hope walked into the room, her arm around Sasha's shoulders.

"Good morning," Maura used a soft voice with her sister, not knowing how she was feeling.

Sasha rubbed her eyes sleepily and sat at the table before returning her greeting. "Sorry about last night."

"Don't be, honey, no one blames you for anything that happened," Maura said. "We just want to find a way to make you better."

"That's what we're doing now," Hope intoned, on our way to the hospital. She was acting as if Sasha were five years old, but with the state of shock and numbness she was feeling, a gentle approach was best.

"Well, have some breakfast. Angie texted me. She and Anna are on their way home." Maura held the spoon to Kaylee's lips, but the baby seemed more interested in her bracelet than eating. "Sorry, baby girl. You can't eat my bracelet." She looked at her sister. "Sash, eat something. It'll make you feel better. Studies show-"

"Stop! Stop with your google speak! I'm not one of your bodies at the morgue." Her sudden rise in volume caused Kaylee to cry.

"Actually," their mother said, "it might be better if she doesn't eat anything yet until we see what kinds of tests she's going to need."

Hope locked eyes with Maura. Suddenly, Maura understood what her mother was saying. Hope was afraid that Sasha could become so anxious that she could require sedation again, perhaps stronger than the night before.

"Ok, I'm sorry for upsetting you," she said to Sasha. "I didn't mean to boss you around or anything."

Sasha immediately started to cry again. "I'm the one who's sorry. I know you only mean to help me..."

Hope put an arm around her and gently guided her out of the kitchen. "Let's go, sweetheart."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

AN: the characters do not belong to us.

Maura took Kaylee into her arms and locked eyes with Jane, who'd stayed quiet, observing in that way of hers. "Kaylee's sitter will be here soon. I am going into work. But, could you-"

Her phone buzzed and she sighed, glancing at the screen. "Great. Another murder. Exactly what I don't need." She hugged Kaylee close. "Mommy wishes she didn't have to work."

Jane took Kaylee in her arms. "I can stay until the sitter arrives because Frost will be on the scene." They looked at each other with the same stricken thought. Frost. He didn't know about her fiancée's condition.

Thankfully, the babysitter showed up two seconds later, relieving them both of at least one worry. Soon, they were off to the murder scene, where an unsuspecting Barry Frost stood looking at the body lying prone on the pavement.

"Hey, Frost, got a moment?" Jane asked him, praying that since she was his partner, the news might be a little easier to take from her.

But as soon as she and the ME told him everything, he looked devastated and deflated.

"I need to be with her," he said. "Can I go?"

"No problem," Jane said with a compassionate smile.

At the hospital, it was clear that Sasha wasn't calming down as the enormity of the situation was becoming very real in her mind and heart.

Hope read the young woman well. "Honey, I think it would be best if I arranged for you to be given some medication that would let you sleep through these tests and scans. Would that make you feel better?"

Sasha nodded weakly as she started to cry in body-trembling gasps of agony. "Wait," Sasha said, once she calmed down enough to speak. "Could you call Barry? He needs to know."

"She doesn't have to." Barry rushed into the room and scooped her in a hug. "Maura said something about blood. I tend to tune out half of what she says when she's in doctor mode."

"It's ok, Barry," Hope said. "Sasha has a blood disorder that some of the clones had as a result of experiments. Her symptoms are more severe because of the nature of the experiments she suffered in captivity. The tests she's having will determine how extensive the disorder has become. It's good that you're here."

Barry gave his fiancée a hug before she was taken into a private room and put into a bed to begin her day of procedures. Hope followed after her and held her hand as the nurse attached her to monitors, started the intravenous line by which she would be sedated and drew blood. This final step would reveal her diagnosis.

The last thought that Sasha had before drifting off into medication-induced slumber was of the happy future she had once looked forward to with Barry. Now, it was all uncertain, but she heeded her mother's instructions to let go and relax.

In the lab, Jane put an arm around Maura's shoulders. "Maur, why are you here? You're miserable. Go to the hospital."

"Ok, I will. You are the best, Jane."

Jane smiled sadly at Maura as she took her gown off, put her jacket back on over her dress and headed out the door. It was clear that once this day was over, they would have a definite answer. It was the waiting that killed them.

Maura found Barry in the hall, pacing. "You've been around Jane too long. How is she?"

Barry looked to the door. "They had to sedate her. Hope hasn't said anything. I just don't get it. How could your blood make the pain stop?"

"My blood can make up for a deficiency in someone else's blood. In this case, we are a closer match than twins because Sasha and I share all of our DNA, not just ninety eight percent of it. So, I'm the natural donor for her," Maura explained.

"But is there a permanent solution?" Barry asked. "Or does she go on needing your blood forever?"

Maura shook her head. "I don't know. That will depend on her test results. If our mother can find a permanent cure for the condition. Basically, Sasha's body isn't making enough blood and that's what's causing the trouble. Why it affects her lungs we don't know, but it probably has something to do with all the experiments. Getting shot in the chest didn't do her any good, either." Maura stared at the floor. "I'm so scared," Maura said in a trembling voice.

Alarms from Sasha's room started to go off and several doctors and nurses ran inside. Maura and Barry looked at each other with terror in their eyes, frozen in place for a split second.

Maura was the first to break out of the trance, barging into the room to find the monitors beeping normally. "What happened?" Movement from the bed tore her gaze away from the nurse and she rushed to her sister's side. "I'm here, Sasha. Are you in pain?"

Sasha wasn't awake enough to answer, but her body was sending out all the signals of deep pain - racing heart rate and highly escalating blood pressure. Maura quickly drew blood from her own arm and plunged it into her sister's veins.

Maura waited a breathless minute until Sasha's vitals appeared to normalize. "That was a close one," she said to no one in particular. Hope came into the room and took Maura's hands into her own.

"How is she doing, other than what just occurred?" Maura asked Hope.

Hope blinked back tears. "It's worse than we thought, as I suspected. The drugs they gave Sasha in the middle of the experiments, as well as the gunshot wound, have given her a serious blood deficiency. We have to look for a cure because none is known of as of this time. It affects her lungs because of the shooting. We don't know how long she'll be able to breathe on her own because of the combination of internal scarring and lack of blood. And her heart is weakened by the stimulants from her captivity. The rogue agents made it their mission to see how much stimulant they could administer to a clone without their heart stopping... But it appears that your sister's heart did stop several times. Sasha only survived because Liza was there to resuscitate her."

Maura felt numb hearing all of this. "What can we do... how can I help?" She asked.

"You're still scheduled for your PICC line insertion so you can give her the blood. It will keep her alive until we find a permanent cure." Hope squeezed Maura's hands reassuringly. "You're doing all you can, sweetheart."

It was all Maura could do to keep her composure as she knelt down next to the bed, gripping Sasha's hand. Sasha's eyes fluttered open. "You're okay. I'm here. I am having my PICC line put in."

Sasha could barely keep her eyes open, but registered what Maura was saying. "It's bad, isn't it?"

"Yes," Maura could not lie, nor did she want to. "But we're all here and we're going to help. It's not like when you were alone in the dark. See? There's a window. Just like last time. Mom made sure of it."

Sasha's eyes began to tear as she saw the light streaming in the window.

"You're going to have to stay here a while until we find out a way to help you for good and cure this blood disorder," Maura explained to her sister. "But I'll be here as often I can. Mom will handle your case like she did last time."

"It's getting hard to breathe!" Sasha whispered. "Help me, Maura!" The room was swirling around her before blackness obliterated her totally.

"I just gave her blood not twenty minutes ago," Maura cried. Tears splashed onto her cheeks. "Sasha! Sasha, wake up!" All her medical training was lost in the fear clouding her mind.

Strong arms guided her from the room and she looked long enough to see that it was Jane before falling into the nearest chair. "It's never going to end, Jane. My sister could die. I can't lose her." She let Jane's grip tighten around her, her tears continuing to fall.

Jane held Maura as she cried and watched as Hope ran into the room, leading the medical team. It felt like hours as they waited for the doctors to work and any word to come. Frost appeared in the hallway and collapsed onto a bench with an ashen face. No one said anything until Hope appeared in the doorway with a grim expression.

"We had to put a tube down her throat. Maura, honey, we need to put in that PICC line. Sasha's going to need your blood."

"She can have as much as she wants. I'll sleep for a week if that what it takes to make her better," Maura said, still clinging to Jane.

"I hope it doesn't come to that," her mother replied. "But I appreciate your willingness. I know how much you love your sister."

Just as Maura stood up, a wave of dizziness came over her. She clung to Jane and closed her eyes tightly. Hope leaned forward. "Maura, are you ok? Giving so much blood can make you weak. Come over here and sit down." Hope took Maura's pulse and shook her head. "We'd better get you into a bed before you pass out. You're going to need fluids to replace what you lose with the blood draws. They can do the PICC line then, too."

Maura nodded, understanding it all from her viewpoint as a medical professional in her own right. "Can I please share a room with Sasha? I don't want to let her out of my sight."

Hope smiled. "Of course. You'll be a big comfort to each other."

"Kaylee," Maura said as Jane helped her stand. "My sitter-"

"I'll stay at your house and watch Kaylee. You focus on getting Sasha better."

"Thank you," Maura said. "Angie and Anna should be home soon." They reached their room and Maura laid down. "Jane, wait."

Jane turned, returning to the bed. "What is it?" She grabbed Maura's hand.

"This is going to sound nuts, but I think the agents, whomever had Sasha, meant for this disease to happen. Maybe as a way to, I don't know, see how clones could heal." She shook her head. "Forget it. I'm not making any sense."

"I think it makes sense," Jane said. "And they had to be really angry when they failed to grab their target twice, so it wouldn't surprise me if they did especially awful things to her."

Maura started to cry softly. "Yes, no wonder she is still afraid if the dark and can't stand to be still for very long. Now she's lying there, facing both those things. I can't imagine how she must feel."

Jane stroked Maura's hair in an attempt to soothe her. "Yes, but she is sedated, so she doesn't know what's going on. It really is best for her."

"The sedation," Maura sniffed, going into google speak despite her emotion, "is to keep her from fighting the ventilator and to allow her to rest. The oblivion to her surroundings can't hurt anything, though. I'm sure by now Sasha has a major case of post traumatic stress disorder." She glanced at her sister, who was lying motionless on the bed, connected to more tubes and wires than Maura could count. Her twin was a sight that made Maura shudder.

"Dr. Isles, we're ready for you," a nurse approached the bed Maura was occupying by the window. "I need to get you started on the IV fluids your mother ordered and get your PICC line inserted."

"I'm going to go check on Kaylee," Jane announced. "It'll be okay. I'll be back soon."

"Thank you, Jane."

"You're welcome, Maura. Now, let this nurse do her thing." Jane squeezed Maura's hand one last time and left.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: The characters do not belong to us.

Chapter Three

Maura's mind was elsewhere, on Kaylee and Sasha, as the nurse connected her to the IV and set up the PICC line. Before she knew it, they were done. Hope reentered the room with more optimism than she had felt since Sasha had gone into respiratory arrest and required intubation. She sat down at the foot of Maura's bed.

"Well, honey, now all we can do is wait, but you're doing all you can for your sister. That's a big relief."

"I'll do whatever I can," Maura replied. "I meant what I said about sleeping for a week if I needed to."

"I know, honey," Hope answered. "Let's just see how it goes, ok?"

Maura looked over at Sasha, tears filling her eyes. "Her oxygen levels are looking better and her heart rate is improving." She closed her eyes and opened them again. "Can you wake her up?"

"Give it a few hours, sweetie. But you're right, she is improving. And so are you. You need to have fluids as soon-"

"I know. I'm a doctor." Maura regretted her harsh words the moment they left her mouth. "Sorry. I'm just scared and feel like a bad mom. Kaylee has seen more of Sasha and Jane than me this week."

"Oh, honey, I know how you feel." Hope remembered the years she thought Maura was dead and had blamed herself for the events of her eighteenth year. "But it's not true. You have a lot of important roles to juggle in your life right now, but that makes you an even better mother because you have so much caring in your heart."

"I guess," Maura said with tears. "It just feels wrong."

"But it's not at all," Hope reassured her daughter. "Now just rest. What you are doing for your sister is also taking a tremendous strain on your body and you can't be negligent of that. Not because you're a doctor and not because you're worried about your sister or your daughter or your friends. You might need to be here more often than not for your own good until we cure Sasha and I think the more quickly you accept that, the better. I know it's hard, but I'm here for you every step of the way."

Maura sighed and closed her eyes. Hope was right. She did need to take care of herself. With one last look at Sasha, she let sleep claim her.

Back at Maura's house, Jane tried to calm a screaming Kaylee. For the last hour, nothing Jane did seemed to calm her. "I know, sweet girl. I know you miss your mommy." Jane held Kaylee close and with one hand grabbed her keys. Putting the baby in the carseat, she went to the car and strapped it in. If Kaylee wanted Maura, she'd have her.

The drive seemed to calm the baby, as if she knew where they were headed. Fifteen minutes later, she parked and headed inside to Maura and Sasha's room. Hope met her at the door.

"Maura finally fell asleep about an hour ago," Hope said. "But I think who you have there is better than any medicine. Just keep your visit no more than ten minutes because she needs her sleep."

Jane nodded and took Kaylee over to Maura's bedside. By instinct, Maura immediately awakened. "Oh, thank you, Jane. I needed to see her so badly." She took Kaylee in her arms and held her close. Kaylee remained calm and happy through the visit with her mother.

As Maura regretfully handed Kaylee back to her best friend, Jane took delight in telling Maura something she knew would calm her worries. "I've called Constance, who is coming to stay as long as you need. Between her and my mother, your baby will be well taken care of."

Maura sighed in relief. "You have no idea how much that means to me. There are no words, Jane."

Jane smiled at her friend as she left and Maura finally listened to her body and its need for rest. She was not prepared, however, when her eyes opened again to learn that she had slept for a solid four days.

Hope was ever present, ready to calm her oldest daughter when she realized the lapse of time. "It's ok," she said. "After all, you keep telling me you'll sleep for a week if it helps Sasha. I think it is. It's hard to tell." Her voice broke a little as she said the last sentence.

"How is she?" Maura was terrified to ask.

"Well," Hope sighed with weariness, "We brought her out of the sedation, but she is unable to breathe without the ventilator, so she's in a state of mild sedation to tolerate the tube. She's hanging in there, due to your blood. More tests will most likely reveal what it might take to cure her." Hope looked sad.

"Whatever you need from me," Maura sighed. "I just want my sister to come back to us."

"So does Barry," Hope said. "He's not left her side since she took a turn for the worse."

Maura sighed again as she looked at her sister and Barry across the room. He was holding her hand and begging her to hold on and come back to him, but thus far, nothing changed.

"Sleeping beauty awakes." Jane came quietly into the room."Thought you were going to sleep forever." She regarded Sasha with a sad sigh. "Your daughter is a bundle of energy and is cutting her first tooth. Cried all night."

"I thought I was going to sleep forever," Maura replied. Her face saddened at the thought of missing her daughter's first tooth and whatever else she would not witness. Would she be out of this bed by the time Kaylee took her first steps? Right now, saving her sister mattered above all else, but her small daughter was a reminder that life went on whether one wanted it to continue at its usual pace or not. Freezing time was not an option. But, it was her fondest wish nonetheless.

Hope greeted Jane with a warm, friendly hug and then let the two friends talk as she busied herself checking Sasha's vitals. Barry still sat at her side, her hand clasped in his, refusing to give up. "Is she any better, Hope?"

Hope shook her head. "No, but she's not any worse, either. Keep talking to her because I think she can hear you."

Barry's eyes misted over because he could not imagine someone so lifeless hearing or feeling any part of the world, but he could not help wondering if Sasha was dreaming, thinking or what was going on inside her mind.

Sasha felt as if she were a million miles away when she had first had sensation after the sedation had been lightened, but little by little a different place began to overtake her senses. As images came into her view, she noticed that she was standing on a footbridge in a forest with snow capped trees, yet she didn't feel cold. It was so serene and beautiful. Then her attention was drawn to what looked like a cloud over the horizon and she could see the face of the man she loved, Barry Frost. He was crying, though, and it puzzled her. Why was he sad?

Maura ate soup and jello for dinner and stretched, walking around the room with Jane's help. They ventured into the hall and were met by Constance, who was proudly carrying Kaylee. Maura nearly fell in her haste to get to them.

"Darling. How is Sasha?" Constance handed Kaylee to Maura.

"She's the same." Maura sat in the nearest chair. "Hi, sweet girl. Can Mommy see your tooth, sweet girl?" Kaylee squirmed in her arms, patting her cheeks.

Maura watched in astonishment as little Kaylee opened her mouth to proudly show her new tooth. "Wow, my girl is getting so big! Kaylee, that's wonderful." Maura turned toJane and Constance. "Thank you both for letting her come. Kaylee takes my mind off of things just for a minute."

She fought off a wave of dizziness more intense than the one she experienced several days before. As things began to spin and twirl around her, Maura grabbed hold of Jane's hand and gripped it tight. However, as soon as it had come, the vertigo passed.

"You OK?" Jane asked. Maura nodded and remained quiet. She didn't want to alarm anyone, especially Kaylee.

Constance stood up and took Kaylee in her arms. "I hate to leave, but I'd better get her home and down for her nap. Jane, I cannot express now much of a help Angela has been this week. She is as devoted to this little one as if she were one of her own. She is marvelous with babies!"

Jane giggled upon remembering the time when her mother volunteered in the neonatal unit when she and Maura were investigating the death of a young Canadian woman who was a surrogate mother. It was undeniable that Angela loved babies. And they loved her equally.

Maura laughed as well, because the whole experience had been simultaneously funny and endearing.

Kaylee whined in Constance's arms, reaching her little arms toward her mother.

Maura stood with Jane's help and kissed her daughter. "I love you, baby girl. Mommy hopes to be home soon."

"Maura, you should rest." Hope stepped over to her. "I'm concerned about your dizziness."

"I'm fine. I don't need any more rest." She winced at her abrupt tone. "How's Sasha?" She leaned against Jane, fighting tears at leaving her daughter again.

"Her levels are improving. I'm going to start weaning her off the sedative," Hope explained and Maura released a breath.

"I just want her back. I want to hear her voice." A knock at the door forced her attention away from Sasha. Angie stepped into the room. "Angie!"

Angie ran across the room and enveloped Maura in a big hug. "How are you feeling?" She asked the woman who was saving her cousin. "How is Sasha?"

Hope gave a small smile. "She's doing a little better and I was just telling about my idea to wean her from the sedative soon. She is getting stronger, despite how things look."

"How's Anna?" Jane was curious about the teenager that has befriended her after the BPD school visit.

"She's good. Worried about Maura and Sasha. I recorded her latest glee club performance. She begged me to come and show it to you. She had a solo." She touched a few buttons and handed the phone to Maura.

"It's beautiful," Maura remarked as she watched.

Jane was also astounded. "She's such a talented girl!"

"I'm glad you're enjoying it," Angie said. "She's my little star. We call her Rachel Berry around the house because she's just as good as the character on the tv show."

"I'm sure she loves that," Jane smiled. "And it's every bit true, too."

Maura tried to focus on the conversation happening around her, but the dizziness became too much. She quickly succumbed to the darkness, the muffled voices fading to nothingness. But the void did not last long as she soon felt a hand rested on her shoulder. The dizziness had stopped and she opened her eyes to find a blurry figure staring down at her. Her twin. "Sasha," she choked out.

"Hi Maura," Sasha said. "I was wondering when you would join me here."

"Where are we?" Maura asked, slightly frightened. It was a strange place and she could not really see anything but Sasha's face.

"I'm not sure what to call it but I'll show you where I've been," Sasha gestured toward the footbridge. "I watch Barry from over there. Why is he crying all the time?"

Maura closed her eyes. She could go into medical speak or flat out tell her. Both would freak her out. "Help me up." When she was on her feet, she looked her sister in the eye, not letting go of her hand. "You're in a coma, Sasha, and apparently now, so am I. You took a turn for the worse and-" The words died in her throat and a tear ran down her cheek. A strangled sob escaped.

"Wow, that is incredible." Sasha had a hard time taking it all in. "We're not, um..."

"No, I don't think so," Maura responded. "Because you were alive when I collapsed. If you've been here a while, that's not the case."

A voice, familiar yet unknown, called out both of their names and the sisters turned in time to see a woman running toward them. She was the mirror image of both Maura and Sasha.

"I'm Gina," she said. "Pleased to meet you."

Maura and Sasha exchanged a puzzled glance.

"I was wondering when I was going to meet you," she said with a smile.

"Our clone," Maura blurted. "No wonder Jane thought me dead." She nudged Sasha. "Maura Isles and this is my...our sister, Sasha."

"That medical examiner...Pike something is really an airhead," Gina blurted. "It's really unsettling to have your grave say another name. Come on, I'll take you back to the lodge."

"Where are we?" Sasha finally blurted. "Maura just said we're not dead."

"We're at the lodge," Gina told them. "That's all I know. Don't freak out, it's fun."

Maura and Sasha exchanged another glance. "Are you sure we are not dead? This is getting strange."

"I didn't think so," Maura replied. "I'm not so sure."

Back in the hospital room, their mother wasn't so sure, either. Now both of her daughters were barely clinging to life and she still had no idea how to keep them going. Maura, too, had stopped breathing and was on a ventilator, like her sister. Hope didn't know if either one was going to survive.

"You call this fun?" Sasha fired back. "This isn't a vacation. You-" she stopped. "I'm never going to leave here, will I, Maura? This is Heaven, isn't it? How can it not be? Gina's here and she's dead."

"I don't know," she reiterated. "You weren't dead before. If you are, it's been since I..."

Her statement did nothing to calm Sasha. "I just want to go home because I miss it so much, and I only want to go back..."

Gina ignored both of them and kept walking to the lodge. "Come on, you're going to miss the fun."

"Is that all you think about?" Maura lashed out, frustrated by this girl's lack of tolerance. "We're not dead. You are." She grabbed Sasha's arm. "Let's go, Sasha."

"I'm not staying here any longer," agreed Sasha. "I want to go home and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Maura nodded. "So go have your fun or whatever. But not with us."

Gina's eyes welled up. "You mean you would leave your sister here and not even get to know her? Dad was wrong about you. He said you were nice. He always went on about how great you were."

Maura paused for a moment. "I'm sorry, Gina. I'm not trying to be rude to you. Sasha and I just need to go home. That's all, but I feel badly to have hurt your feelings. I apologize."

"I do, too," Sasha said. "I'm sorry, Gina."

"Oh, you girls are too sweet," Gina impulsively hugged both of them. She stared at the ground. "I guess I'll meet you for real, but let's not rush that. But I've got to go with my friends. We live here and it's cool." She narrowed her eyes in thought. "I wonder if you know someone named Kate... She might just be the fourth, you know."

"Clone?" Maura wondered. "Don't tell me there are more."

"She looks like us, except her hair is brown," Gina said, "and she's my best friend."

"Yeah, a best friend who's going to steal all your clothes if you don't hurry it up." The woman Gina described appeared before them. "Gina, how many times do I have to tell you not to come out here?"

"I was meeting my clones. Chill, Kate. You gonna arrest me for breaking one measly rule?"

"I might do that," Kate said with an ornery grin that was reminiscent of Jane. "But I will let you off this time." Then she glanced at the other two women and was aghast. "Whoa, did you say clones or what?" Kate stared. "They look just like us. And I thought we were just sisters."

"No," Gina said, "there may be more to it than that. But we can find out later. Maura and Sasha won't come inside with us at all."

Kate got a soft expression in her eyes. "No, I don't blame them, either." She sighed deeply. Kate knew all too well that if she'd had a chance to go back to the living, she would have taken the opportunity immediately. But sniper bullets don't afford a second chance, and she was finally settled with it by now. Kate knew she would reunite with the man of her dreams one day, the man whose ocean colored eyes she could still see upon the thought of him.

"Go back," she whispered. "Please. It's best for everyone."

Maura had only to look into Kate's eyes to see the sadness there. While Kate's chance for life was long over, her own was not. Hopefully, Sasha was in the same situation.

"I'm not going in," Maura said with finality. She was going back.

Squeezing Sasha's hand, she blinked back tears. "Come with me, please?"

Sasha squeezed back. "Of course. Let's return to the footbridge. I think we can get home from there."

In a moment, they were back at the place where Sasha watched Barry cry over her prone form lying comatose in the hospital bed. But this time Sasha recognized instinctively that they both could not go if they both wanted to live. Well aware of Maura's generosity, Sasha remained quiet as she led Maura to the exit of the woods.

"Take my hands," she said. Maura did as she was told. "Now squeeze each one and in a minute we will be back home."

Sasha hated lying to Maura, but she knew it was the only way to give her sister the best chance possible. Maura had Kaylee to raise. Sasha couldn't stand the idea of Maura not getting to do that, of missing everything in her daughter's life.

"Here we go," Sasha made her voice steady as Maura squeezed each of her hands one after the other. "Going home!" She watched as Maura's image vaporized and dissolved into nothing before her eyes. Only when her sister was gone did Sasha allow herself to cry. She looked into the cloud where she usually saw Barry, but this time saw nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

The characters do not belong to either of us.

Chapter Four

"Maura? Maura, honey, can you hear me?" A voice was beckoning her, but it was at a distance and her eyelids were heavy. She tried to open them but to no success. "Come on, Maura, that's it..." The voice coaxed gently. That's it..."

She slowly opened her eyes and saw Hope standing over her bed, tears running down her cheeks.

"My sweet girl, you're back... I'm so glad. You really scared me for a while. Don't try to talk, we just extubated you a few minutes ago and your throat could be sore for quite a while."

Maura tried to move her head in the direction of Sasha's bed. Sasha had said they were coming back together, but there was no one talking to or working on her sister.

As she craned her head to glance at her sister, Maura's vision began to blur. Her breath came in shorter inhalations and she grew dizzy as her heart raced with anxiety.

"It's ok, sweetheart," Hope murmured as she reached for an oxygen mask and placed it over Maura's mouth and nose. "Just breathe and try to relax. Lift your head a little so I can bring this around back. Good, sweetheart. Now your breathing will feel better. Your sister is still alive."

Tears stung Maura's eyes as she understood the news. "Just relax, it's going to be ok." Hope injected something into Maura's IV and she soon drifted off to sleep.

Hope turned and let out a sigh. She had technically told Maura the truth about her sister, but it was only a matter of time if no cure was discovered.

Back at the footbridge, Sasha was lonely and tired. A fatigue that hadn't been present before descended over her like a thick fog. She wanted to lie down in the snow and close her eyes just for a few minutes. Forgetting most of what she longed to recover back home, she gave into the feeling and let this strange, unnatural sleep take over.

The next time Maura awoke, she heard her mother conversing with another woman who looked and sounded a little familiar. She opened her eyes to see a woman perhaps a little older than Hope standing by the bed, reading the charts and nodding her head as if in encouragement. When she saw Maura's eyes following her movements, she smiled in a way that reminded Maura so much of her mother.

"Good morning dear," she said in a lightly British accent. "We have not met but I'm your aunt. Elise Martin. I'm also a doctor and I believe I've solved the case of what is ailing you and your sister."

"Really?" Maura asked, perplexed. The medications keeping her in a state of ability to rest made her mind fuzzy and she shook it as if to clear the cobwebs away. "I didn't know I had an aunt."

"You do," Hope said, coming up behind Elise and giving her an affectionate hug. "And I think she's going to be able to help you and Sasha. Elise has discovered properties in my blood that can do the same thing that your blood has been doing for Sasha. But it will cure you both. Permanently."

"That's great," Maura replied through her haze. She tried to keep her eyes focused but sleep was enticing her senses to fade away into the background. However, she was just aware enough to feel Jane squeezing her hand in encouragement before she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

In the snow, Sasha lay sleeping, deeper and deeper with each passing moment. A figure tiptoed up to her still form and bent low to brush the snow out of her hair.

"This isn't right," Kate lamented before shaking the other woman. "Sasha, wake up! You have too many people waiting for your return. And a man who loves you desperately. Come on!" She shook the caramel haired woman harder until one hazel eye opened with a quizzical expression.

"Kate, what are you doing here?" Sasha asked, her voice thick with sleep.

"I ought to ask you," Kate responded. "Why are you sleeping in the snow? You know if you do that, you'll never go back. And I so badly wanted you to have a chance at life." A chance I'll never have, she thought to herself. "Your aunt Elise has a cure," Kate continued, a softness in her voice as she spoke Elise's name with a tone of reverent memory. .You'll live if you go back. Make up your mind. It's not like I wouldn't love getting to know my -" she trailed off, imagining that she was revealing too much.

"You're my clone, aren't you?" Sasha asked.

"No," Kate smiled. "We are not clones. Nothing that weird. You will find out, but you must go back."

"I thought only Maura could live," Sasha said with a sniffle. "I wanted her to go instead of me because she has a little girl. She needs to be there to see Kaylee grow up and all of those important things."

"Blessings are around the corner for you, too," Kate reassured. "Maura could go back then, but this is now and it's your turn. So go. Go back to Barry. I've seen how he looks at you and more importantly, how you look at him." She had a faraway look again, thinking of the cerulean eyed man she had adored in life. Just like Sasha loved Barry, and would always love him, if Kate had her way about it. "Go," she repeated once more. In an instant, Sasha was gone.

Amid tangled colors, Sasha felt her body growing heavier as it quickly cascaded to earth. The pain that had been her constant companion had returned and she fought to open her eyes. She could hear people talking, perhaps her mother's voice and Angie and Anna... Why couldn't she open her eyes and see them? They were so close, but she was so far. Remembering Kate's advice, she struggled even harder until her eyes cracked open just a tiny slit, an action that elicited a joyous response from her family.

Hope rushed over with another woman in tow who bore a striking resemblance to Hope. A sister, maybe? Sasha still didn't know very much about her biological family even though she had grown closer to her birth mother over the time in the underground. But whether or not she had aunts or uncles or cousins was still unknown. She continued to follow them with her eyes, trying to make sense of what was going on.

Hope was leaning over her and telling her not to try to talk because of the ventilator and that although she'd like to remove the tube, it wasn't possible at this time. Hope said little about her condition, which normally might have frightened her if not on so many sedatives and other medications. She paid little attention to other thoughts and focused on what Hope was telling her.

"This is your aunt Elise," she said. "She's discovered a way to help both you and Maura. You see, while your sister was also unconscious she required a transfusion of blood and upon testing my blood we found something extraordinary!" Hope smiled through the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. "It can reverse the illness in you and the anemia in Maura. You should both recover. It will take a while, but we think it can happen. You will take longer than Maura because of the disease and the experiments. We will put you into a very deep sleep to allow your system to fully recover without straining to do anything else. It will be like the other sedations except much, much deeper."

She turned to the family and spoke in a quieter voice to describe the more detailed parts of the upcoming transfusion.

"A doctor once described the levels of consciousness as a staircase of a hundred steps. The top is consciousness and the hundredth step is..." She could hardly bring herself to say it, "death. We need to get Sasha to about an eighty five for the recovery to effectively take place in her body. When a person is in that state of consciousness, it is not rare for them to slide into a deeper level yet. It is impossible to control how far the slide might take her, but without the treatment she will succumb to the disease in a short amount of time. All things have their risks, but this is her only chance."

Lena Connor wiped her eyes and nodded. "I understand. Do what you can to save Sasha. We know how dire it is." She squeezed her husband George's hand and looked at the ground.

All the while, Anna had been talking softly in a comforting tone to her aunt, who was hovering between consciousness and oblivion. Anna noticed that the beeping of the heart monitor was growing more rapid as time went on and more of the medication wore off. She silently signaled to Dr. Martin, who came to the bedside after talking to Lena and George.

"Sasha, sweetheart, you must calm yourself. Being stressed is hard on your body and we must prepare calmly for the transfusion." Hope's voice was pleading.

But Sasha cried silently as she thought of Kate and her missed chances at life. She didn't want to end up in the same way now that she had awakened and felt the warmth of everyone who cared about her. Instinctively, Anna knew what was bothering her aunt and stroked her hair as she whispered words of encouragement.

"It'll be ok. We're not letting you go away from us because we need you. Trust Hope. She knows what to do. I understand you don't want to be here."

Hope started the sedative in the IV line. "You're going to get sleepy and you must relax like you have before. There will be no pain and once it is over you will wake up. It might take a while and you will be groggy as you come out of it..."

Anna noticed that Sasha's heart rate didn't go lower but higher as the drugs entered her bloodstream. She was fighting their effects.

"You do not want to be here. I get that, and maybe you don't have to be." She ignored the strange looks from everyone, including Angie, but continued. "Close your eyes; we are definitely going somewhere else." Anna's voice was slow and nearly hypnotic as she spoke to Sasha. "I want you to think about the time we went to that place on the beach where they had concerts all summer long. Jimmy's nephew David wanted you to sing with him. You, of course, said yes. I was so excited because I know how great you are. But the biggest surprise was that you were on before Camera Obscura, your very favorite band in the world! Look at it as if it were a postcard. Then it's getting larger and closer and you can step into it and that is where you are, far away from anything other than that club on the beach. Squeeze my hand if you are there."

Anna felt a faint squeeze and continued. "That's outstanding. Look, David is waiting for you and we are all there. Hope and Lena, your dad, my mom and I and Barry." She gathered a handful of papers and put them into Sasha's hand. "This is your set list."

Sasha grasped them and then her hand relaxed; the papers fell out. She was under at last. Anna continued. "Join David and sing for us now. You're where everything is just right..."

Sasha was motionless, the most encouraging sign anyone had yet observed. Hope gave Anna a hug as soon as she confirmed that Sasha was gliding under the effect of the sedation as she needed to be. As Anna spoke, Sasha's heart rate had slowed to a crawl and her brain waves showed the level Hope needed them to reach.

"Ok, sweetheart," Hope said. "Here we are. It is up to you to make it work because you have so very much to live for."

Sasha walked into the club, her hair loose and flowing down the back and sides of her emerald green dress matched with calf boots. The whole place was alive with music and chatter of the patrons. Sasha had felt at home onstage since she was a little girl and tonight was no exception. Smiling at David, she took her place beside him and they began to sing. All was normal for a few minutes until everything ground to a halt. The images in front of her began to blur and distort. Even the very air in the room had disappeared and a mere breath was like standing in the vacuum of a wind tunnel without sound or animation.

"She's going too far." Hope was looking at the monitor and noting that instead of the eighty five they had reached, Sasha had slid to a ninety five. Ninety six. Ninety seven.

Maura was clinging to Jane and sobbing. Lena pressed her lips to the limp hand she held in her own and prayed for her preciosa. Barry held Sasha's other hand and whispered to her as he hoped against hope that these would not be their final moments together with both of them alive. "Please, love, hang on. There's so much we have to do."

Sasha fell in front of the still, crumbling statue that had been Barry and took his cold marble hand in her own.

"Sing to him," a voice said from behind her. Without even having to look, Sasha knew it was Kate. Was she finally out of time?

"He'll hear you if you sing," she repeated. "Choose something that is meaningful to you." Kate crouched next to Sasha. She was wearing an elegant purple evening gown with her hair up in a loose chignon. "Think of how you feel about Barry. Then sing it."

"To say that we will never part and you will always have my heart..." Sasha sang quietly at first, then the chorus got louder and louder.

All the walls started to crack and disintegrate as the glorious warmth of sunshine poured in. It penetrated not only her skin but her heart. This was exactly what she had missed in the underground hideaway. It was full and beautiful, completing her in every way. Barry held her in his arms and she was sure he'd never let go. However, the music and crowd returned in a blink of an eye and she saw Kate at the exit. Despite all, she followed her into the night.

"She's coming back," Hope said. "Sasha is at a level eighty four. The transfusion worked to heal the illness."

She was by herself and in the dark. That was all. It took several more hazy hours for her to remember that she had a body comprised of fingers and toes, legs and arms. She was separate from this floating environment, this vague haze. There was no pain but no feeling anywhere.

"Sasha has a very lengthy journey toward consciousness," Elise told everyone. "But she will wake up as the drugs wear off. It will be slow and she may not act much like Sasha at first, but she will recover and do so fully."

She heard a cacophony of sounds but could not identify them. They were soft, louder, high and lower. It took her time to realize they were voices with particular meanings. Words. A certain word in repetition, a name. Probably what they called her. It was impossible to hear without interference from the place where she waited. It came eventually like a summer breeze breathing through curtains. Sasha. It meant her and she again remembered that she was a distinct entity with a name, a body, a place to belong. Sasha wanted to go back. Sasha knew she could. And therefore she would.

The next day, Hope decided to lighten the sedative even more. "Now just give Sasha a bit more time. She'll need the ventilator for about a week after waking up because her whole body is getting used to being healthy again. She probably won't fight it, but if she does, remind her to let it do the breathing for her. She will not notice it for the first few days, being conscious for only minutes at a time. Just give her time."

Sasha felt someone holding her hand and stroking her hair. To her amazement, it was no trouble at all to open her eyes.

Barry was astonished. "My love! You've come back to me! I'm so happy, let me get the others."

One by one they filed into the room, first her parents, then Angie and Anna. Hope and Elise were next. They greeted and embraced her until sleep claimed her. But they knew it was just a momentary parting, not like the past weeks of uncertainty. Jane and Maura had gone home after Maura's discharge the day before, but they would be by first thing in the morning.

Elise was the last one out of the room before everyone left. In the low light, she allowed the tears to come, not for Sasha but for the daughter whom Elise would miss for the rest of her life. "Oh, Caitlin, I wish you could have known your cousins."

She sighed and walked out of the room into the lonely hallway. There had been no time to say goodbye to Caitlin. It was comforting that her sister had named her own daughter more or less after Caitlin, using the variation Cailin. It had startled and astounded Elise to see the identical appearance of each Maura and Sasha to her beloved girl. She had never gotten accustomed to hearing Caitlin call herself by her nickname she had chosen years ago. She might have been Kate to everyone else, but Elise always thought of her as her precious, irreplaceable Caitlin.

Kate watched from the footbridge and turned to leave after her mother disappeared from her view. Sasha was one of the lucky ones. The ones who went back to life and love. The ones most blessed. Tonight she would not watch the ocean eyed man. There would be plenty of time for that later. On some days, she avoided it because she might cry for him all night. Instead, Kate would focus on her cousins and their happiness in their lives and love. The ocean eyed man would be in her arms again one day. On that occasion, she would gaze upon him and sing to him as she had longed to do when she was alive.

Kate hummed as she walked through the forest on her way back home with its bright lights and crackling fires. It would one day be their song. She let a few of the words fall out of her lips as she continued. Only a handful would do in order to not set a torrent pouring over her without restraint or control of her undying love. "To say that we would never part and you will always have my heart is something that I can't deny and you must never ever try..." Late felt the sunshine in her heart melt down its wall just as the walls of the frozen club had been melted. He would come to her one day and she would sing for him...


	5. Chapter 5

The characters do not belong to us.

Chapter Five

Maura stared down at her sleeping daughter. She was exhausted but did not want to part from Kaylee. She could hear Jane rustling about in the kitchen and a few minutes later her footsteps.

"You should sleep." Jane's voice was low and she crouched in front of the rocking chair. "I fixed several bottles."

Maura nodded but did not lift her gaze from Kaylee. "I almost died, Jane. And Sasha..." She swallowed back a sob. "I almost lost my sister." She pressed her lips to Kaylee's forehead. "I don't want to put her down."

Jane stood, her knees popping in the process. "I know you don't, but you just got out of the hospital."

Maura looked ready to object, but nodded and handed Kaylee to Jane before standing. They put Kaylee in the crib and retreated to Maura's room.

Maura changed into PJ's and climbed into bed. Jane laid down beside her.

"I never thanked you," Maura whispered into the darkness. "I was so angry at you for running off with my child. But you saved her."

"I would've done it again in a heartbeat. I was so sure Paddy was up to his dirty tricks."

"Well, you were right. He will always be a murderer. He protected me, yes, but I will never see him as my father." Her gaze found Jane's. "Sasha and I owe you everything."

Jane embraced her. "I'd do it all over again. Now go to sleep."

Maura snuggled into Jane's embrace and Jane watched as she finally fell asleep.

The next morning, they arrived at Sasha's bedside as promised. Elise was telling everyone that it would be most beneficial for Sasha if they brought familiar things from home as well as items she especially liked.

Hope smiled, as she had first learned the young woman's favorite things when she brought a bottle of her favorite perfume and art supples to the hideaway.

Sasha was still sleeping most of the time, very few times in the day did she move slightly or look around the room. Then, as soon as her consciousness had bloomed, it faded.

In the following days, Sasha became more and more conscious as the drugs continued to leave her body with the help of extra intravenous fluids. She was finally able to remain awake for over an hour at a time. Elise, who was overseeing the case with an unusual interest alongside her sister, decided that by the end of the week it was time for Sasha to be removed from the ventilator.

Maura was just walking in the room when her sister was being extubated and it did her heart good to watch Sasha take breaths on her own with only the help of the oxygen mask Elise quickly put into place once the tube was gone. For several minutes, Maura could not take her eyes off the natural rhythm of Sasha's breathing as she slowly slid into sleep. Maura decided to sit in the chair next to her sister's bed until she awoke.

The wait was not extremely long after Maura pulled out the latest medical journal from her bag and started to read until she felt a hand touch her arm.

"Sasha!" Maura was delighted to see her sister this lucid and ready to interact on whatever level her recovering body could do. 'I can come back," Maura offered, "you need your rest."

Sasha shook her head. "Just a few minutes?" She asked under the mask, then reached up and tried to pull it down in order to talk more clearly.

Maura caught her hand and put the mask back. "No, you need to leave that on with your body still getting used to spontaneous respiration. I'll stay, but I'll be back later. I have more help than anyone could need at home between my mother and Angela. Two grandmothers, no waiting." She smiled at her attempted joke. It wasn't more than five minutes that Maura waited with her sister as she fell asleep. She quietly left the room, listening to her footsteps echo as the images of the ethereal lodge returned. They would discuss it sometime later, but or now, having everything return to normal was all Maura could think about.

Maura visited the next day and found her twin to be more awake than the previous day. She was soon relieved to hear that the question on her mind was also in Sasha's ponderings that morning. "I need to ask you something, but it's going to sound crazy. Was that footbridge real or just a dream?"

"I don't know," Maura looked down at the floor and furrowed her brow. "I don't know how to tell, but it felt very real."

"Do you remember Kate and Gina?" Sasha asked with a slight lingering over Kate's name. "Because I think Kate is the reason I'm here. She saved my life."

"You left me alone here and I woke from my coma and you were not conscious yet." Maura remembered her panic at seeing her sister still lying there across the room, half dead, if not more.

"I was falling asleep in the snow when Kate woke me up and then she was in the jazz club later and helped me sing to Barry so I could come back for good," Sasha related to Maura. "Then I slowly began to come back and could not remember what was happening to me or even who I was."

Maura could barely speak for the tears threatening to crowd her throat. "That is when you were at the ninety seventh step of unconsciousness. Only three more and you would have been gone. To answer your question about my memory, I do remember Kate perfectly. Gina was slightly annoying. But I met them both. I wonder who Kate was if she wasn't a clone."

"I can tell you," Elise slipped noiselessly into the doorway. "Kate was your cousin. My daughter. Her real name was Caitlin but she insisted in being called Kate. She looked just like you."

"Can you please tell us about her?" Maura pleaded with their aunt. "If it's not too painful." She looked up at her aunt again. "We really want to know because we both saw her when..."

"It will always be painful because not a day goes by that I don't miss my little girl and want to have one more day to share together," Elise said. "Caitlin was an agent with NCIS for two years when she was shot by a terrorist who was after her boss and fiancé. His name was Jethro Gibbs. Very good looking and rather older than Caitlin, but it had been love at first sight."

"Oh, that's why the song was such a big deal," Sasha remarked.

"She loved music," Elise said. "Swimming Pool by Camera Obscura was her favorite. Anything by them, really."

Maura began to cry. "That's ironic."

Sasha agreed. "They're my favorite, too." Tears slid down her cheeks. "It's what she had me sing to come back."

"That sounds like Caitlin." Elise smiled through her own tears.

"She seemed happy there," Sasha said." It was like she was waiting for something to happen."

"I wonder what that could be," Elise murmured. "It's been seven years. Long and lonely years without her. I suppose she's biding her time until Gibbs joins her. I know they will be together in heaven, but it's not enough. I wanted to see them married and have a family and grow old together."

In the woods, Kate felt a tug toward the earth. She didn't know what to make of it yet, but it definitely meant that things were about to change. She was certainly being drawn toward the living.

In a Washington hospital room, a doctor was examining his long time charge.

"She's increasing brain activity. Call Dr. Mallard right away on his private line," he instructed his nurse.

She nodded. "Right away, Dr. Pitt."

Maura arrived home to find Kaylee in her highchair while Angela prepared dinner. She said hello to Angela and took Kaylee into her arms. "Give mama a kiss, sweet girl."

Kaylee attempted to grab Maura's earring.

"No, no, sweet girl."

"We have a mini Maura on our hands," Jane joked as she came into the kitchen. She tickled Kaylee and the baby squealed. "How's Sasha?"

"Tired but okay. I just want her home. She has a wedding to plan and watch Kaylee grow up." Maura kissed her daughter's hair.

Angela nodded. "I know. Hope told me she'd be moving in with Sasha to see to her needs. That's reassuring, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Maura nodded. "And I'll be watching her, too."

"Then she is one blessed young woman with the two of you looking after her," Angela said with a smile. "Not to mention that cute fiancé of hers. Barry is a dream. I'd hoped he'd get together with my Jane, but it wasn't meant to be. That's ok, because the right one will come along."

"Ma!" Jane scolded. "Now is not the time to discuss my lack of a love life." She grabbed a beer from the fridge. "Come on, Maur." Jane steered her into the living room and put Kaylee in her playpen.

"You do need to date more, Jane." Maura settled into the sofa. "Maybe when things settle down."

"Yeah. Right now it's about you and Sasha and little miss priss. And, uh, my brother sending you flowers."

"How did you know?" Maura asked, feigning innocence.

"Did Dr. Isles just make a joke?" Jane grinned at Maura's red cheeks. "It's Frankie, he can't hide anything. Seriously, Maur, it'd be pretty great if you dated Frankie. But if he hurts you I'll have to kill him."

"I am ninety-nine point nine percent certain that he will never break my heart," Maura responded. "Frankie is nothing but a gentleman." She smiled wryly.

"Maura, it's my brother you're talking about. He still beats me in basketball and gives me bloody noses. But if he treats you right, then that's all that matters. We're already sisters, but if you two get married, it'll be official and whatnot."

Maura chuckled. "He hasn't even asked me out yet, Jane. But you'll be the best aunt ever to Kaylee." She looked to where her daughter sat in her playpen, babbling happily.

"I'd like that, if it were official that we were sisters." Jane grinned at the thought. "So hurry up and get that brother of mine down the aisle."

Kate could hear voices, familiar voices. She wanted to open her eyes but her brain would not allow it. People continued to talk in hushed tones-was that Tony? She tried to make sense of the events that had led her here-wherever here was. Why did she feel so awful? Like her brain had been squashed by a piano.

A gentle voice was speaking to her now, but she could not identify it nor the speaker. It seemed that she had heard this voice a long time ago but she could not remember when. After trying to open her eyes and make sense of what was bring said for what felt like hours, she gave into the exhaustion and let sleep pull her back into the blissful nothing once again.

"I don't like this, Brad," a man with a Scottish accent said.

Dr. Pitt nodded. "Her numbers should be better. But she is making progress, Ducky, hold onto that.

Ducky! She knew that voice anywhere! Maybe he'd know why she felt like she'd been underwater for a million years. And why she had memories of a lodge and two women who looked like her. She tried once more to open her eyes but again the attempt failed. Familiar fingers curled around her hand. Was that Abby? Her finger grazed over something cold. Abby's ring! Kate tried with all her might to squeeze her friend's hand.

Abby noticed the movement across her hand, even though it was nearly imperceptible.

She sat up from the reclining position she'd been in since Ducky and Brad Pitt had brought her to a secret wing of Bethesda and made her promise not to tell.

"Kate? Did you move your hand? Please, Kate."

Kate tried to move again because she could hear tears in her best friend's voice. But her eyes remained closed and her hand motionless. She tried to speak and found that it was also futile.

Come on, hand. Move. Make Abby stop crying. I hate when she cries.

Kate tried yet again and this time success. She heard a sound that resembled something of a cry and a laugh come from Abby.

"That's it, Kate. Squeeze once if you know who I am."

With all the strength she could muster Kate obeyed and a tear fell from her eye.

Abby was so taken with the idea that Kate had squeezed her hand that she didn't notice the tear in Kate's eye. But Ducky did. He leaned in close and tenderly wiped it away.

"Caitlin, dear, are you crying?"

"It's okay, Kate. We're here. We're right here." Kate could tell Abby was trying to remain positive, but she could hear the tears in her voice.

More tears fell but no sound came out. This wasn't fair. Why couldn't she speak or move anything but a few fingers?

"Let poor Caitlin rest," Ducky said. "She's been through enough just getting through to this point."

Abby sniffled. "I guess so." She leaned over and kissed Kate's forehead. "Come back to us. Please. I mean it. I thought my best friend was dead, but now you're alive and I cannot lose you again. No way. You have to wake up now."

Maura tried to calm Kaylee's cries as Jane prepared the bottle.

"I know, sweet girl. Auntie Jane is bringing your dinner." She stole a glance at the clock. One thirty am. Maura held Kaylee close. She felt like it'd been days since she'd held her daughter.

"Here you go." Jane came into the room with the bottle. "You want me to do it?"

In Washington, another pair of best friends sat in a precipitous divide. Only in Abby's case, she wasn't afraid of being abandoned by Kate, but of losing her altogether. She hadn't moved since the night before and there were no more spikes of higher brain activity. Abby held out hope even as tears slid down her face because she didn't want to discover her best friend was alive and then have her slip away all in one twenty-four hour period. Gibbs hadn't even been informed yet, and he had been Kate's fiancé. Abby teared up more at the image of Gibbs still wearing his engagement ring seven years later.

"Come on, Kate," Abby pleaded. "I know you moved on purpose. I know you can hear me and I don't care what the doctors say. Come back."

Deep in the underwater, Kate sensed that Abby's voice was caressing her like waves on a shore. She wanted to return, but did not realize what needed to be done.

"Please." Abby put Kate's hand to her cheek and stroked it tenderly.

If Kate could have cried, she would have. But she was too determined to follow Abby's voice and come back to the world. It was the only thing on which she could focus.

She tried to concentrate on Abby's voice, hoping she'd continue to talk. With every word Abby's voice became clearer, the fog lifting. When she tried to speak, she found she couldn't. Her throat was clogged with something. Maybe if she tried to move her hand again. It took work but slowly she inched her fingers across the bed until she came in contact with Abby's hair. The pain was intense but she wrapped her fingers around Abby's hair.

Abby looked up with a start. "What?"

Kate felt her move and her hand went limp. She needed to try again. Someway, somehow she needed to get Abby to understand that her brain worked.

"I know that was you, Kate. I don't even mind that I have to redo my pigtails. Just do something else," Abby asked. "Kick me if you want to. I won't mind. Pinch me as hard as you can."

She'd just mastered moving her fingers. The toes would have to wait. She concentrated harder and pinched Abby's arm.

"You really are listening!" Abby's green eyes gleamed with tears. "What else can you do? Can you show me those beautiful hazel eyes of yours? Pretty please, with sugar on top?"

Kate squeezed Abby's hand. She was exhausted but determined to see Abby's face. However, her eyelids would not obey and a tear slipped from her still closed eyes.

Abby bent close and wiped the tear away with the utmost of gentleness. "It's ok if you can't yet." She stroked Kate's hair and smoothed it back. "Just take your time. You're doing well." She squeezed her friend's hand back and held it tightly in her own to let Kate know she was there.


	6. Chapter 6

The characters do not belong to us.

Chapter Six

The next morning, Maura, Jane and Angie were on hand to help Sasha leave the hospital to go home and get settled in again.

Because Sasha's traumatic memories were resurfacing more and more as her time in the hospital continued, Hope and Elise had worked out an alternative situation. Because they were both doctors and knew Sasha's case well, they decided to take care of her at home in order to spare her more memories. Hope was frightened by the intensity of Sasha's panic and wanted to alleviate it in the easiest way possible.

Sasha had not been thrilled to hear that she'd have to stay in bed, hooked up to a pulse oximetry, oxygen and IVs, but anything was better than the hospital. It was the trade off for not spending at least another month there. The other condition was that Hope would not hesitate to take Sasha back to the hospital at any time if she showed signs of respiratory distress or infection.

That morning, Hope had clipped the wireless pulse ox to Sasha's finger as soon as she'd been disconnected from the one in her hospital room. Hope was pleased to see that the measurements were all within acceptable range. They took a few moments to let Sasha greet the cats and to walk through each room to reassure her traumatized mind that everything was the way it had remained in all the weeks she and Maura had been in the ICU. It was, of course, and after a thorough inspection, she allowed her mother to put her to bed. Hope set about placing an IV in Sasha's hand before tucking her in.

"No oxygen tube?" Sasha asked as her mother finished the IV without mention of anything else.

Hope shook her head. "Not now. Your sats are up quite well. You may need it later. You're still well oxygenated from what you received in the hospital."

Sasha nodded, relieved. The feeling of her own bed was heavenly, and it only took Sasha a few minutes to fall asleep once her trio of cats had joined her on the blankets that surrounded her weary frame.

"Hey pretty girl," Maura whispered when Sasha opened her eyes what felt like years later. She brushed Sasha's hair from her face. "You hungry?"

Sasha shook her head. "Not right now." She scooted closer to Maura. "Will you stay?"

"Always. I'm still on leave. You're never gonna be alone." She kissed Sasha's forehead. She needed to have Sasha close, to know those agents hadn't taken her sister from her.

Hope walked in and smiled at her two daughters comforting each other in this way.

"Looks like you have some nice company, Sasha," she exclaimed, smiling.

Sasha nodded hazily. "I do. I feel so tired. Did you give me anything to sleep?"

Hope shook her head. "Didn't have to, but we've got to watch your oxygen levels when you sleep. It's all to easy for them to drop. I'll take care of it."

Maura fiddled with her sister's wireless pulse ox. "Yes, she's really needing the supplemental oxygen."

"I'll get it," Hope said.

Sasha groaned. "Not again. Please. I'm tired of being hooked up to tubes."

Maura rubbed her thumb across the top of Sasha's hand. "I know you are. But it'll help you get better." Maura sat back as Hope put the oxygen tubes into Sasha's nose. "You need anything?"

Sasha shook her head. "Just you here with me."

Maura squinted at the oxygen machine. "She needs it up as high as a cannula can go, doesn't she?"

"Yes, but we always have the mask if she needs more." Hope turned the knob, checked Sasha's saturation levels and looked satisfied.

"What about me?" Jane asked from the doorway, holding Kaylee. "And the cutest baby in the entire world."

Maura reached for her daughter and sat her in between her and Sasha. Kaylee tried to crawl on top of Sasha.

"No no sweetie." Maura held her. "She sees your necklace. She loves shiny things."

"Gee, I wonder where she gets that from," Jane muttered.

Sasha chuckled as Maura glared. "Where is my fiance?"

"Finishing up paper work," Jane answered. "He'll be here soon. He promises. And I'm on dinner duty. Hope says you two need to try to eat something."

"Well, I am starving," Maura said. "Pizza sounds really good."

Jane arched a brow. "Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?"

"Hey, I like pizza," Maura argued. She looked at Sasha. "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay. I love you," Sasha said.

"Double it." Maura followed Jane from the room. "The menu is in the drawer in the kitchen." She put Kaylee in the playpen.

"I can't do this again, Maur." Jane leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Do what? Eat? You have to eat, Jane. It-"

"No. Losing you. I nearly lost you three times, Maura. I can't-" Her voice cracked and a tear trickled down her cheek.

"I know. I know, Jane. I never meant to cause you any pain." She held out her arms and Jane willingly accepted the embrace.

"Don't do this to me again," Jane murmured into Maura's hair.

"Jane, why are you so scared?" Maura asked after a few seconds. "Talk to me. Please."

"The fact that I thought you dead, Maura. The fact that I watched you nearly die in the hospital. Is that reason enough?" Jane fired back.

"I'm sorry," Maura said. "I never wanted you to suffer."

Jane broke down crying, unable to say a word.

Maura held Jane in her arms and let her release all of the pent up emotion.

"Is it because you're watching Sasha recover that you fear for me?" Maura asked. "I get where it might be hard, seeing her with tubes and stuff and looking just like me. Is that it?"

Jane nodded."It's stupid. You're not Sasha and Sasha isn't you."

"But we look alike and have so much in common," Maura explained. "When I was Tess I even noticed she dressed well, like I do."

"It's like-I look at her there all helpless and I see you lying in that hospital bed. I just want things to go back to normal-solving crimes together-watching baseball on your couch-ordering pizza. I love Kaylee like she was my own and Sasha and Anna and Angie, but we haven't had any friend time since you had the chip removed. You can hit me over the head now. I'm being selfish and jealous." Jane ran a hand through her curls.

"No, you're not. I was just thinking the same thing." Maura explained. "What would you like to do?"

"Don't tell anyone this cause I'll deny it but Downton Abbey is really great. I know I just said I wanted friend time, but Sasha's my friend, too. How about I order some food and we pile on Sasha's bed and watch Downton Abbey episodes. If Sasha feels up to it."

"She'd love it." Maura pulled Jane into another hug. "You're amazing, you know that?"

Jane squeezed Maura's hand. "I'll be back, okay? Half an hour, tops. Call Anna, see if she wants to join."

"She's spending time with her mom," Maura explained. "I'll put Kaylee down while you go get the food."

Jane grinned. "We have a deal, Dr. Isles."

Maura walked into Sasha's room, where she was half awake upon the pile of pillows with Hope nearby.

"Hey, my favorite sister in the world. You feeling ok? Because Jane wants to come in and watch Downton Abbey with us if you're up to it." She glanced at Hope.

Sasha opened her eyes and looked at Maura. "I think that sounds great," she responded. "It'll take my mind off things."

Maura sat down on the bed and took Sasha's hand. "I know how you feel about the tubes and stuff but it beats being in the hospital, doesn't it? I'm sure you're more comfortable here."

Sasha nodded. "I'm just being stupid."

"No, you're not." Maura took her sister's other hand and stared at the IV needle.

"She needs the fluids and a little something to relax so she can get the best sleep possible to get better," Hope informed them. "This is the compromise of being home early." She sighed. "I know it's not easy, but you are here."

Sasha nodded. "I'm sorry for being sulky about it," she said through a burst of tears.

"It will get better, Sasha. But you won't be alone. I sent Jane out for food. You think you can eat something?"

"A little bit," Sasha answered. "Where's Kaylee?"

"In the guest room asleep. Jane should be back soon." Maura smoothed a strand of Sasha's hair from her face.

As promised, Jane returned with food-salad for Maura and Hope, pizza for herself and soup for Sasha. They piled on the bed and watched Downton Abbey while they ate.

In Washington, Abby Scuito had fallen asleep next to Kate's bed, rather uncomfortable in her position. But all that was forgotten when she awoke to the feeling of someone touching her hand. She sat upright and found herself looking into a pair of eyes she'd not seen since 2005. May twenty-fourth, to be exact. There were no words as Abby realized what was going on after so many prayers for a miracle. And now it was right in front of her. Kate was conscious enough to open her eyes and was gazing at Abby with recognition and tears for time lost to a sniper's bullet. Kate was here. Her best friend had come back at long last in response to her pleading. Abby hoped beyond hope that this was not some dream.

Abby rang for the nurse, but by the time she arrived, Kate's eyes had closed again.

"Are you sure you weren't just dreaming, dear?" The nurse tried to be kind as she asked because she knew how long Abby had been sitting by Kate's bedside and was sympathetic as to how tired the young woman must have been.

"No," Abby insisted, "she was awake. She was looking right at me. I know it was real. Call the doctor!"

The nurse shook her head. "He'll be in for morning rounds and will check her brain activity then."

Abby sighed in frustration but she knew it would do no good to argue. She fished her cell out of her oversized purse and dialed Ducky.

"Sorry to bother you this late, Ducky, but Kate opened her eyes a while ago and the nurse doesn't believe me and won't call the doctor."

Ducky, however, felt differently about the matter. "I'm coming now."

Once he arrived, Kate was back to her previous state, but Ducky was undaunted. He examined her previous brain activity and smiled at Abby. He took his own cell phone out of his pocket and sent a text to Dr. Pitt.

"Am I imagining things, Ducky?" Abby asked with bated breath.

He shook his head. "No," he explained. He glanced at the readout once more. "It shows a definite difference."

The sun had come up while Ducky and Abby were discussing Kate's condition, and neither one noticed Dr. Pitt enter the room.

"Good morning," he greeted them with a warm smile. "I must apologize for my nurse. If I'd known it was Kate, I'd have come right away."

He turned to assess his patient, but before he could check the readout, he found himself looking directly into Kate's now open eyes.

"See?" Abby declared.

Kate blinked in an effort to keep her eyes open. Abby looked so happy. Now that she could open her eyes she no longer wanted to be surrounded by darkness. To see Abby's face, to see anything at all was a welcome treat. How she'd gotten here or why she was here still remained a mystery. The last thing she remembered was sending Maura and Sasha-sisters who looked exactly like her-away from the cottage. Where was Maura? There was no doubt they were related. Why wasn't she here? Had she dreamed them both? Surely not. Wait. She could ask Abby. Not with her voice but with her fingers.

When Abby reached for Kate's hand, she took advantage of the contact and slowly fingerspelled the name Maura into Abby's palm. Fluent in sign language with two deaf parents, Abby immediately recognized the language but furrowed her brows at the name.

"Who is Maura?" Abby inquired.

Kate next spelled the name Sasha and the word twins.

"Sorry, honey, I don't know any twins named Maura and Sasha." Abby blinked in perplexity.

Kate closed her eyes. Of course she didn't. They were nothing but a dream. A wonderful dream.

"Don't cry, Kate." Abby brushed a tear from Kate's cheek.

Abby continued to stroke Kate's cheek. "I know. I'll ask McGee to run those names. You never know."

Kate didn't want to close her eyes. She wanted to hug Abby, she wanted to talk and most of all she wanted to see Gibbs. But first she needed-whatever this was down her throat preventing her from talking-gone. She tried to turn her head. Maybe if she coughed the tube would leave. Someone needed to get this tube out of her now!

She started to try to cough but it resulted in choking. Dr. Pitt was alarmed and immediately ran to her side and looked at the monitors.

"Kate, you must calm down. It's much too early to extubate because you're barely conscious."

Kate didn't heed his advice, though, and alarms blared loudly. Dr. Pitt shook his head sadly before injecting her with something that sent her back into the loathed darkness. After seven years he dared not rush her when her lungs were in no way ready to breathe on their own.

Abby looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. She couldn't fight the intubation, not this early." Dr. Pitt hated to upset her but knew what was best for Kate. "She'll wake up in a few hours."

Upon hearing this, Abby cheered up a bit. She took her cell phone back out and texted McGee. She gave him the names Maura and Sasha and asked him to look them up. His return message was 'will do.'

"Ok, McGee, I need you to tell me if anyone on the eastern seaboard named Maura or Sasha has any resemblance to Kate," Abby told McGee when he called a few minutes later. Abby sighed. "I wish I could tell you what reason I have for this but right now I can't. I hope you understand."

Kate slept for a few hours and when Abby returned from showering and getting food, she was awake. Abby went to her and took her hand.

"McGee is looking for the names Maura and Sasha. He hasn't called back yet though." Abby smoothed back Kate's hair. "Can you tell me about Maura and Sasha?" she loosened her hold on Kate's hand. "You can tell me, Kate."

Then Kate deliberately took Abby's hand and communicated the phrase 'looks like me, both Maura and Sasha.'

"Wow. Like you, huh? I bet they are just as awesome and amazing as you."

Kate tried to smile but her muscles weren't ready for that yet and the tube was still in place. But Abby could tell by the gratefulness in her eyes that she was thankful for the kind comment.

"I'll tell McGee to look for photos of them to compare to you," Abby offered. At Kate's enthusiastic blinking, she took her cell phone and texted McGee.

Dr. Pitt came by to check on his patient and was very pleased with her progress of staying conscious for hours at a time. "You can help, Abby. Show her pictures, videos, play her music, anything to stimulate her senses. She won't be able to verbally communicate for about seven more days due to the vent, but I am impressed by her skills in ASL."

Once Brad left, Abby turned to Kate excitedly. "You remember your favorite group, right?" Abby held her hand out and Kate made the letters CO in it, to which Abby nodded enthusiastically. "Well, I've kept up with them since you couldn't and I have two new albums to play for you. We're going to start out with a song called My Maudlin Career. This is called an iPad, by the way. I'll explain later." Music began to blast through the room and Kate's eyes looked ecstatic.

"Abby, the names you wanted me to look up. They look exactly like Kate. They could be related to her. They live in Boston. Maura Isles is a medical examiner her sister Sasha is a designer."

Abby released a breath. "Thanks, McGee. Seriously. Thank you." She promised to call later and rushed to Kate's side. "Open those eyes, pretty girl." She stroked Kate's cheek. "You didn't dream those twins. They exist and they live in Boston."

Kate slowly opened her eyes and looked at Abby quizzically.

"Really. They exist. Here, I have pictures."

Abby held her phone in Kate's line of vision where images of the twins filled the display.

Kate's eyes filled with tears. In Boston she had two sisters she'd never met. "Go meet them. Please. Tell them about me. I want to meet them when I'm better," she signed into Abby's palm.

Abby brushed away Kate's tears. "I will. I promise." She kissed Kate's forehead. "Get some sleep."

Kate grabbed Abby's hand. "More music."

Abby grinned. "You got it."

In Boston, Jane pulled up at Maura's just as she stepped outside clad in her usual fancy attire. Today was Maura's first day back at work since the transfusion. Jane unlocked the door and Maura got inside.

"I hope you weren't waiting long. I had to give the sitter instructions." Maura sighed. "it's my first day leaving her with someone that isn't you, your mother, Angie or Jamie."

"I know, Maur. She'll be fine. But if you're still worried, we can insert cameras and you can watch her like some creepy stalker person."

"No," she responded. "I'm sure she will be fine."

Jane nodded. "And your mother is staying with Sasha, so you've got no worries there."

"I know," Maura sighed. "I just can't help but worry."

In Sasha's room, Hope was finding it increasingly hard to rouse her daughter from sleep. She increased the oxygen flowing through the cannula but still had no result. Her heart jumped at the low numbers on the pulse ox and immediately called for the ambulance because it looked as though her daughter had developed a very fast moving infection, just as Hope had feared.

She picked up her cell phone as she rode in the back with an unconscious Sasha who had now ceased to breathe on her own at all and texted Barry to meet them in the ER.

At the BPD headquarters, Barry looked as though he'd been shocked with a thousand volts as he read his messages. "What's wrong?" Jane asked when she saw his pained expression.

"Sasha. She's back in the hospital. It sounds like it's bad because she stopped breathing-"

Jane dropped her face into her hands. "Oh no. Maura!" She raced out of the menu, colliding with Maura.

"Jane," Maura said tearfully. "Sasha-"

"I know. Hope texted Frost." Jane pulled her into a hug. "I'll take care of Kaylee. She'll be okay. She's a fighter-like you."

"Come with me. Please. I-I need you with me." Maura tightened her hold.

"Yes, of course I'll stay with you, wherever you need me, I'll be there," Jane promised her best friend. "Do you want me to take you o the hospital? Frost is going now. I can take you both if you'd like."

Maura nodded. "I'd like that."

Jane was resolute. "Then it's settled." She started to walk toward the door. "I'm going to tell Cavanaugh that the three of us are gone for the rest of the day and then I'll pull the car around."

Maura kept hold of Jane's hand the entire ride to the hospital. The ride was silent and as soon as they arrived Maura bolted from the car. Within moments she was at Sasha's bedside.


	7. Chapter 7

The characters do not belong to us.

Chapter Seven

Meanwhile, states away, Abby found McGee standing before her with his mouth agape at the first glimpse of an agent whom he had thought to be dead for seven years.

"It's true, McGee. Close your mouth," she giggled. "I trust you've brought me the information?"

McGee nodded, still unable to speak properly. "Um, y-y-y-yes I-I-I ha-ha-have."

"You look like you're about to wet your pants, Timmy." Abby laughed. "Hope you brought a change of clothing because it's true."

But her expression soon grew sober at the sight of Gibbs in the hall behind the befuddled McGee.

"Gibbs," Abby said softly. "I'm sorry. You should have been the first to be informed. Your Kate-she's alive."

Abby watched with tears in her eyes as Gibbs went to Kate's bedside and she slipped out of the room with McGee. "I want to go to Boston. I want to find Maura and Sasha."

"I think you should," McGee answered. "I'll even go with you."

Abby grinned. "Thanks, McGee."

Gibbs approached Kate slowly, as if he were walking through a fog and was unsure of his destination. He sat down in the chair and took her hand, delighted to feel her fingers moving across his palm. She spelled out the words he'd been dying to hear in seven years: I love you.

Not trusting his voice, he signed the same back. She looked at him with admiration and continued to talk with him via her fingers in his hand. I missed you, she told him. I was waiting for you and was afraid I'd never see you again.

You're seeing me now, he signed. And you'll keep seeing me forever. A lone tear strayed down her cheek.

I know, she replied. Stay with me while I fall asleep. Please. I don't want to think this is only a dream.

I will, he responded. His cerulean eyes shed a matching tear.

In a few moments she was sleeping but Gibbs didn't want to leave her side. So he settled in he chair and didn't move for the majority of the day. He was enthralled with gazing at her face, at each feature he'd committed to memory because he thought he'd never see her this side of heaven. She didn't look a day older than she had the last time they had spoken on that rooftop in 2005. He sighed at how helpless she seemed when compared to her former fiery self of years gone by. Yet, she had only been awake a few days and he was sure she would come back in full as her body allowed. For now, he was content to watch over her and gently kiss her fingertips as if there was nothing else in all of the world to do, as there was not.

The days passed in a haze for Maura. She didn't allow herself to leave Sasha's side until Sasha opened her eyes four days later. It was something Maura couldn't explain, but when she arrived, she asked for a cot and laid down as close to Sasha as she could help Sasha's condition improved. She'd heard it working for babies and wasn't at all surprised to find it working now. By day seven, the infection was gone and the breathing tube removed.

"You look better," Jane said, coming into the room with Kaylee in her arms. She squealed and reached for Maura.

"Hi sweetie." Maura kissed her daughter's forehead. "I missed you. So did your Aunt Sasha." She met Jane's gaze. "Thank you. She's better. She's so much better."

"I see that." Jane gave Sasha a careful hug. "You come home, okay? I'm a bit tired of being here."

Sasha laughed. "I promise. I'll do my best to not end up back here. Where's Anna?"

"Buried in schoolwork. She's going to come by this evening." Jane sat on the chair opposite Maura's. "So I've been waiting to tell you both something. I wanted to wait until you were out of the woods, Sasha."

"Please nothing bad," Maura pleaded. "I can't take any more bad news." She kissed Kaylee's head.

"It's not bad-well sort of. I got a really strange phone call from someone named Abby who works for NCIS. I thought it was regarding a case but its not. She wants to come here and meet you both."

Maura frowned. She didn't know anyone by that name or anyone at NCIS.

"I wonder what she wants," Maura said.

Jane shrugged. "I have no clue. But she will be coming anytime and I thought you'd like to know."

Sasha got a strange expression. "I think I've heard of NCIS. But you're going to think I'm crazy. Who knows, maybe I am."

Maura looked at her with the same quizzical expression. "Please tell what you know."

Sasha sighed. "When I was in a coma after the blood disease I had this dream I was at a lodge-the lodge, Maura, and a woman who looked exactly like us was there. Her name was Kate. She said she worked at NCIS and died from a gunshot wound to the head. Shot by a terrorist."

"What? So if she's dead why does this Abby person want to meet with us?" Maura asked. Kaylee grabbed a fistful of her hair. "No, sweet girl. You're hurting Mommy."

"She didn't say," Jane answered.

"I guess we'll find out," Sasha said.

"I had the same dream," Maura blurted. "If you're crazy, so am I. When you sent me home before you, I was devastated."

"Then it was no dream," Sasha responded. It felt so good to talk about it in the open. "Maybe Abby knows something we don't."

"Maybe," Jane agreed. She couldn't keep herself from feeling a little extraneous in the topic because she had not shared the time there. Maura had never spoken of it until Sasha brought it up. Jane could understand that something like that would be hard to talk about, but she wished her best friend had told her regardless of the awkward subject matter. If it had been her, she liked to think she would have told Maura right upon awakening. But each person was different. If Maura kept it to herself, she must have had a reason for it.

With Sasha's insistence, Maura returned to work two days after Sasha awoke. It was nice getting back to a routine, though she did check up on Sasha every hour. Jane was happy to have her friend back and at lunch brought Maura's favorite salad to her. She entered the lobby to head to the cafe to grab their lunch when she heard Maura's name.

"I'm looking for Dr. Maura Isles," a woman's voice said. She had Jane's same hair color and wearing a shirt with a picture of skeleton on it.

"My name is Abby Scuito and I work at NCIS in Washington," she said with a smile on her face and in her voice. "This is going to sound strange, but I've come here on behalf of one of your relatives."

Jane walked over to her. "Abby? Jane Rizzoli. We spoke on the phone. Maura's downstairs. I can take you to her."

Abby brightened. "Thanks. You're the detective, right?"

"Yes. Also Maura's best friend." Jane led her to the elevator and down to the basement. "Maura might be doing an autopsy."

"I'm no stranger to autopsies."

"Okay. Come on then." Jane pushed open the door. Maura was bent over a body. "Maura?"

"What an awful way to die. He looks hacked to death," Abby blurted, pointing to the body.

Maura looked up at the tall brunette. "Yes, it is. You must be Abby."

"Yes. Nice to meet you, Dr. Isles. Wow. Pictures don't lie. You could be Kate's twin."

Maura took off her gloves. "Why don't we talk in my office?"

"I'll leave you to it. Maura, I'll get us lunch. Abby, would you like anything?"

Abby shook her head. "No thanks, I ate after the plane landed. I'll see you later."

With a smile and wave to Abby and Maura, Jane headed out of the morgue.

Maura led the way to her office. "I know of Kate. How I know of her is really complicated. I don't quite believe it myself, but Sasha had the same-dream-I did." Maura gestured to her couch. "Sasha isn't well. She's battling an unknown blood disease."

Abby frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that. Will she be ok?"

"Our mother is treating her, she's a renowned doctor, but there's really so little known about it that there is no exact prognosis for her. We're taking it day by day. Hopefully she'll be fine. My aunt Elise Martin oversaw her treatment in regard to the blood transfusion..."

"That's Kate's mother!" Abby blurted as soon as she heard Maura mention her. "Elise Martin."

"Yes, we are cousins. Or, I should say we were..."

"No." Abby grinned from ear to ear. "You are."

"What?" Maura was stunned.

Abby stared down at the rings on her fingers for a moment before finishing. "Kate is alive. I just found out. She was in a coma for seven years."

"After being shot in the head by a terrorist sniper," Maura whispered.

"How did you know?" Abby asked, shocked.

Maura sighed and toyed with the ring on her own finger. Looking Abby in the eye, she told her about the dream, about the lodge, about meeting and talking with Kate. "I can remember everything so clearly. It's like I was really there." A knock sounded at the door. "Come in," she called.

The door opened and Jane stepped into the office, Kaylee and a big bag containing their lunches in her arms. "Someone wants to see her mommy."

"Why is she here?" Maura took her daughter from Jane. "Is she okay?" She started checking Kaylee over for any injuries or illness.

"She's fine, Maura. Ma thought you'd want to see her."

"Thank Angela for me," Maura said as she took Kaylee in her arms. She turned to Abby. "This is my daughter, Kaylee."

"Wow. She's adorable. Hi, Kaylee. Hi, sweet girl." Abby had always liked children.

Kaylee giggled and buried her face in Maura's neck. Maura rubbed her back. "She's sleepy. It's past her naptime."

"Kate will love her," Abby said softly. "She loves kids and is so good with them."

"I want to meet her," Maura blurted, swaying back and forth with Kaylee in her arms. She ignored Jane's bewildered expression. "Sasha isn't well enough to travel, but I'd like to go to Washington and see her."

"Maura, I appreciate the thought but she's not conscious. She is but not fully. She's not breathing on her own."

"I want to meet her. At least see her, let her know I actually exist." Maura was adamant.

"Then I think it's a great idea that you visit," Abby agreed. "Kate was concerned that it was all a dream. That's when I started looking for you and Sasha. Kate finger spelled your names into my hand. I know ASL because I grew up with two deaf parents."

"I took ASL in college. I remember the alphabet. How long will you be in town?" Maura paced the office with Kaylee, too wound up to sit still. She was really going to do this-meet her- cousin?

"I leave tomorrow," Abby answered. She toyed with the ring on her finger. "You don't know how grateful I am to you for meeting me and wanting to meet Kate. I think it will make all the difference in her recovery."

"I know for a fact it will," Maura blurted and out of the corner of her eye she could see Jane roll her eyes. "I stayed with Sasha when she was unconscious after an infection a few days ago and she drastically improved."

Abby nodded in understanding. "I've read several studies that have suggested what you just described."

Maura seemed to relax. "I'll book a flight as soon as I can."

Abby stayed for a while chatting and helping Maura with test results. They agreed that Abby come for dinner that evening. When she left to head back to the hotel, Jane went down to the morgue.

"Maura, this isn't like you. Just going off to Washington to see someone you've never met. What if she's lying?"

Maura fixed Jane with a fierce stare. "She's not." She sighed and put down the scalpel she'd been working with. She took off her gloves. "I can't explain it. It's just a feeling."

"That's ok." Jane sighed. She hated feeling so separate from Maura. "Do you want me to go with you?"

Maura looked as though Jane had offered to buy her a pony for her birthday. "You're the best friend ever," she whispered tearfully as Jane held her tightly. "I'll pay for your ticket, of course." She pulled back and took Kaylee into her arms again. "I want to take the baby. I feel like I'm always leaving her. I feel like such a bad mom." She rubbed Kaylee's back.

"You're an incredible mom, Maur."

Maura gave a harsh laugh. "I haven't had the chance to be one between shipping her off to LA and losing my memory and donating blood. And now here I am going off to Washington to meet someone in a coma that I saw in a dream. What is wrong with me, Jane? This isn't me."

"Yes, it sounds just like you, Maur." Jane held her friend tighter. "You are kind and generous and all of this shows your big heart even if your big brain can't understand it."

Kaylee let out a cry of protest at being in the middle and Maura pulled back. "Sorry sweet girl. Oh, there's so much to do."

"Look, let me handle the tickets. I can find deals. But first things first, we have Abby coming to your house in a few hours. Don't freak out. It'll be okay."

Maura nodded and visibly relaxed. "Can you take the baby? I have an autopsy to finish up." She sighed. "Here I go again, handing off my child."

"Maura, don't say that. Kaylee knows you love her. You're a good mom."

Maura turned to her best friend with tears brimming in her eyes. "Am I? Really? I want to be!"

"Of course you are!" Jane exclaimed. "You're a single mom. It's not easy."

Maura nodded. "You have no idea until you've done it. I never knew. I could have never imagined it."

Jane grinned. "Bet you couldn't imagine having clones or flying off to go see cousins you met in dreams."

Maura laughed. "No, I could not have."

"You're an amazing mom, Maur. She's going to be just like you." Jane kissed Kaylee's pudgy hand. "Come here, sweet girl. Mama has to work."

"No. I don't. My assistant can finish." Maura held Kaylee as though putting her down meant losing her forever. She was on the phone not even five minutes before asking Jane to help her carry her stuff to the car and bundling Kaylee up. Kaylee cried as Maura strapped her in her seat. "I know, sweet girl. I know." She handed Kaylee her paci and covered her up.

"I'll drive, Maur," Jane offered and took Maura's keys.

Maura sank into the passenger seat. "Thank you, Jane."

"No problem," Jane said.

Jane helped Maura prepare dinner and feed Kaylee, who proceeded to fall asleep shortly after. Jane put her in the nursery.

"She's out," Jane said, joining Maura in the kitchen. She rubbed Maura's back. "You want to cancel? You look exhausted."

Maura shook her head. "No. I just-I need to tell Sasha."

"She'll be excited to know," Jane responded.

Maura's phone buzzed and she snatched it up. "It's Hope." She leaned into Jane as she answered, preparing for the worst. "Hello?" Jane squeezed her tighter. Maura tried to keep the fear from her tone.

"So am I invisible now, too? You're gonna go off to DC and you didn't even tell me?"

Maura sighed, part relief and part guilt. "I'm sorry, Sasha. You're still recovering. I didn't want to overwhelm you. Kate's friend Abby is here. She's-"

"Coming for dinner. Yeah. I know. She's here. Telling me more than you have. Thanks, Maura. I really appreciate that."

Maura winced at the bite in her tone.

"I'm sorry, Sasha." Maura tried to explain. "It just came up today and I didn't want to stress you because you just got home from the hospital and Mother says you're not well enough to travel..."

Sasha sighed and burst into tears. "I'm sorry, Maura. I'm just tired of being sick and missing out. I want to go to Washington more than I can say, and I can't. Mother has me back on all the tubes here at home and you know how I feel about that."

"I know but that's part of the agreement if you being home and not still stuck in the hospital."

"I know. I'm sorry I took it out on you, Maura. I just don't know how this is going to turn out and I sometime imagine I won't be able to do normal stuff like what you're doing." The tears were evident in Sasha's voice.

"You will, Sasha. You will." Maura reassured. "Listen, tell Abby to stay there. I'm bringing dinner there. And Kaylee and Jane. The portable crib is in the hall closet. Is Anna there?"

"Yes. She's showing Abby her huge poster of the body you gave her. She seems happy, but I know she's hurting."

Maura sighed. "I'll be there soon. I love you and I'm sorry."

"I know. I love you too. I'll see you soon."

Maura hung up and tossed her phone on the counter. "Can you wrap up the food? I need to get Kaylee ready." She hurried into the nursery and gently took Kaylee from her crib. "Your Aunt Sasha needs some cheering up, sweet girl. Your mommy messed up."

"You didn't mess up, Maura," Jane said from the doorway.

"I'm glad you don't think so." Maura lamented. "Sasha feels bad because she can't do things you and I take for granted and I should have been more sensitive."

At the house, Abby was eagerly anticipating Jane and Maura's arrival. It was getting hard to keep a happy facade after hearing the phone conversation between the sisters and seeing someone who was a honey blonde version of Kate in very bad physical shape as well. As much as she did not want to admit it, she was greatly relieved when Kate's aunt sent her daughter to bed. Then, however, she had the awkward task of conversing with Dr. Martin without giving away the fact that Kate was alive. With her mother living in Boston, the last thing she wanted to do was to let something slip before Kate's immediate family knew of her survival. It had only been a week since Gibbs had been reunited with her. Kate's mother needed to know before her aunt, no offense to Dr. Martin.

Maura arrived with a sleeping Kaylee in her arms and went straight to Sasha's room to find her already asleep. She put Kaylee in the portable crib and joined everyone in the kitchen.

"Maura, can I talk to you?" Abby asked

"Of course." Maura led her into the living room. "What's on your mind?"

"I need to tell Elise, Kate's mother, that she's alive. I was hoping to do it when everyone was here," Abby declared.

Maura grinned. "It seems equally weird that Sasha and I have a cousin who's basically come back from the dead. It's almost as mindblowing as having clones."

Abby paled. "Now I love the idea of government conspiracies and all that good stuff... Kate will tell you all about me driving Gibbs nuts with my crop circle UFO study years back, but did you just say clone?"

"I'm afraid so," Maura told her guest. "Sasha is not my twin. She's five years younger than me. She's my clone. And there were more but Gina was murdered two years ago when the secret agency running the cloning lab mistook her for Sasha and also took me and made Jane think I was dead for two years and then they got Sasha. That's why she has the blood disorder because of the things they did to her. I'm the original."

Abby felt even more ashamed of her unease around Sasha. "I can just imagine what they might have done to her. I thought this was all a rumor."

Maura shook her head sadly.

"I want to spent more time with Sasha," Abby declared. "She kind of freaked me out because Kate is in similar shape."

"I'm sure she can understand. She freaks Jane out too sometimes, especially when she has an episode. She'll stop breathing or worse," Maura explained. "But she understands the trauma Jane endured thinking I was dead. They kind of bonded with each other over their shared post traumatic stress."

"I understand that," Abby remarked.

Maura nodded. "Sasha is scared of the dark because she was imprisoned in a dark room and injected with nearly lethal drugs. She's terrified of needles and won't usually let anyone but our mother or I start her IVs. She also panics if it's too quiet. Falling asleep alone frightens her too."

Abby let a tear slide from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"We're all adjusting. Sasha will be well in time and things will be back to normal. For now, we're doing the best we can." Out of the corner of her eye Maura saw Hope go into Sasha's room. "Will you excuse me? I need to check on her."

She slipped into the room to find Hope adjusting the IV. Sasha whimpered in her sleep and Maura crawled on the bed beside her. "Shh. Wake up, pretty girl," she whispered. When Sasha opened her eyes, Maura smiled.

"You're here," Sasha whispered and scooted closer. "I'm sorry about earlier. I want to be out there, not in here."

"How about we move the party in here?" Abby strode into the room.

"Sounds good," Sasha yawned. "I would enjoy a party."

Abby made real eye contact with her this time as she explained what was going on and that Elise was due any minute to hear something extraordinary about their very much alive cousin Kate Todd. Abby's best friend. Gibbs' long lost lover.

Just then, Hope came to the door with Elise in tow. They joined everyone else on the bed and love seat across the room.

"Okay, not to break up the flow of conversation here," Sasha said once Elise had been introduced to everyone and shocked to find Abby here. "But Abby I beg you. Tell her! Or I can tell her."

Maura squeezed Sasha's hand. "Let Abby do it," she whispered. "Go on, Abby."

Abby cleared her throat. "Elise, I don't really know how to tell you this." She looked down and fiddled with her rings again. "But I just found out a few days ago that... Kate is alive. She's been in a coma for seven years and was kept hidden all that time. She's awake and going to make a total recovery." She paused for everyone to take it in. Elise seemed to not register the words at first. Hope gasped and held onto her sister. Maura and Sasha watched their aunt closely for her reaction. They held hands so tightly that Maura's knuckles were turning white. They waited what felt like an eternity. Time itself had slowed to a crawl.

"Say something," Sasha pleaded, near tears herself. "Abby's telling the truth. I saw pictures. Maura is going to DC to see her." When no response came, Sasha buried her face in Maura's shoulder and Maura held her close.

Elise turned to Abby. "This is really true?" She asked in a small voice.

Abby nodded, smiling through her tears.

"But how?" Elise inquired, her own scientific mind sorting through facts that didn't come together.

"They were afraid that after Ari shot her, others would be after her to finish the job," Abby explained. "Plus she's been in a deep coma since the shooting. She had very severe trauma. It was only a couple of weeks ago that she showed any increased brain activity before waking up."

Elise turned away, a hand to her mouth, her shoulders shaking. Hope went to her and the two left the room. As soon as the door clicked shut Sasha lifted her head.

"It's not fair. She's thought her daughter dead for seven years. It's not fair I can't go with you. Stuck here like some helpless kid. What did we do to deserve this? What did I do to deserve this?"

"Nothing," Maura answered. She embraced Sasha again. "I won't go. I don't want to leave you. We'll wait. Kate isn't even conscious, anyway." She helped Sasha untwist the covers.

"Go, Maura. Go meet our cousin. Go tell her about us. Let her know we exist. Please." She lifted the IV cord. "Uh, Maura."

Maura went over to the other side of the bed. They were able to get the IV untangled. "I'll be back. I need to make sure Abby gets back to my house okay. Jane's staying to help out with Kaylee."

"You should be with them. Mom is here. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Maura inquired. "I promise you, my sweetest sister ever, to make it up to you when you're better."

Sasha lowered her head. "If I'm better..."

"No." Maura shook her head and spoke firmly. "When you're better. You are going to get over this."

Maura adjusted Sasha's blankets again and kissed her forehead. "I love you. Get some sleep, okay?"

"Could you turn on my sound machine and get my phone?"

Maura flipped on the sound machine and placed the phone on the bedside table where Sasha could reach it. "I wish I could just stay here. I hate leaving you."

"I'll be fine. Mother will be here." Sasha told her sister.

"Okay," Maura said. "Just as long as you're sure."

Sasha smiled at her. "I am. Go meet our new cousin Kate. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to meet her. Right now, you have to do it for us both."

"I promise." Maura took hold of Sasha's hand. She checked the IV bag. "I'll come back tomorrow. I love you. Get some sleep."

"I love you, too. The sooner we sleep, the sooner tomorrow will be here."

Maura kissed her forehead and made herself leave the room. She'd been fine alone for so many years, but now she had a sister whom she couldn't stand to leave. This wasn't normal. Maura made her way into the living room to find Jane holding a sleeping Kaylee and talking with Hope.

"Ready to go home, sweet girl?" Maura picked Kaylee up in her arms. She needed to prepare Kaylee's overnight bag for the days Angela would be watching her while she and Jane were in Washington. It wasn't getting any earlier.

When they were home, she made quick work of the bag, put Kaylee to bed and then climbed in between the covers herself.

Maura's night was anything but peaceful as she was plagued with dreams of Sasha. The sad look in her eyes as she used the word "if" regarding her battle against the blood disease kept replaying itself in her mind. "Not if, but when," Maura muttered in her sleep. Then her dreams turned to Kate. What must she have gone through on that rooftop?


End file.
